Check It Out Category: Music

Have you stopped in to tell us what you have been reading, watching, or listening to during the month of February? Seven days remain, and you don’t want to miss out! Visit the Fiction/AV/Teen Services desk on the second floor and fill out a drawing slip for every book, audiobook, DVD, and CD enjoyed this month. No registration required, and each entry increases your chances to win a prize just for doing what you already love. Claim a bit of sweet for playing, and let us cheer you on!

In a hilariously meta production, Something Rotten!imagines the birth of musical theater as the only recourse left to brother playwrights trying to compete with bad-boy superstar Will Shakespeare. The Broadway cast recording shows off the talent, the fun, the puns, and Easter eggs aplenty to tickle the fancy of any drama geek.

With the announcement of Taylor Swift’s latest album coming out November 10th and a new single out, Taylor Swift is intentionally back in the public eye. As a celebrity and singer that writes about her own experiences with people, it is not surprising that there would be songs written about her.

Compiled below are a few songs in which it’s surmised by a significant amount of people that the songs contain a reference to Taylor Swift in some manner, whether it’s as overt as saying her name (Kanye West’s “Famous”) or as subtle as a line that seems to mimic the nature of one of her relationships (One Direction’s “History”).

Do you ever hear a song and it transports you to a different time and place from your past? With high school graduations in the air, a few staff members of the Library took time to reflect on songs that reminded of them of high school, whether it be a song they listened to nonstop or one that summed up their experience. It was hard to narrow it down to just one song!

Part two of Netflix series The Get Down recently dropped, and though it isn’t yet available through the Library, we know some of you are already primed to lose yourselves in the music, the style, the art, and the drama of the Bronx in the late 1970s.

The fascinating world of early hip hop is one born of frustrations, passions, and even activism. To experience more of this electric era, try one of these:

The early days of hip hop have become the stuff of myth, so what better way to document this epic true story than in an explosively entertaining, encyclopedic history presented in graphic format? Piskor’s exuberant cartooning takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the scene started to boom. The Hip Hop Family Tree is an exciting and essential cultural chronicle for hip hop fans, pop-culture addicts, and anyone who wants to know how it went down back in the day.

A perfect point of contrast to a series that recreates the emergence of hip hop is one that was created during the era in question! Wild Style is a 1983 docudrama that celebrates the colorful lives of teens who live in the South Bronx (sound familiar?). There they are seen break dancing, creating graffiti art, and listening to raucous rap. One focus is on the figure of Zoro, who likes to spray-paint subway cars, another reference point from The Get Down in the character of Dizzee, played by Jaden Smith.

In the 1970s Grandmaster Flash pioneered the art of break-beat DJing–the process of remixing and thereby creating a new piece of music by playing vinyl records and turntables as musical instruments. In this powerful memoir, Flash recounts how music from the streets, much like rock ‘n’ roll a generation before, became the sound of an era, as well as his own rise to stardom, descent into addiction, and ultimate redemption.

Whether you’ve seen the series and can’t let it go or you want to experience it vicariously, the series soundtrack will satisfy your yen. Featuring both original songs and era classics, the line up includes artists such as Miguel, Christina Aguilera, Michael Kiwanuka, Janelle Monae, and Donna Summer, as well as the talented cast. Consider this your hot summer soundtrack!

On Southeastern, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell has crafted soulful, catchy songs with lyrics of dust-coated poetry about finding warmth in love when the world offers none, “Cover Me Up”, watching a friend die, “Elephant”, and a rollicking barn-burner about barely surviving an addiction,“Super 8”. It’s an album that proves the famous quote about how a great country song is only “three chords and the truth.”

This fall we got the shocking diagnosis that my husband had cancer. The same week I came across the song “I Have This Hope” by Tenth Avenue North on their new CD Followers. It is a great song and mirrored what we were going through and where hope is found! Check it out!

Hoopla is a website and app that you can use to instantly borrow books, movies, music, ebooks, television episodes, and comics with no added cost. Luckily for Hamilton lovers, there is a wealth of material to fully invest into your current (or new) Hamilton obsession!

This season Hoopla has in store for you…

#1: The sweet holiday sounds of Aaron Burr

You may not have realized you wanted a Leslie Odom Jr. Christmas album until you listen to his 2016 release, Simply Christmas and you realize the season wouldn’t be complete without it. Odom’s silky jazz voice has a calming effect, setting the for curling up in a Library chair as you watch the snow fall and the cars drive past. For Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson lovers, it includes a cover of “Winter Song.”

#2: A mashup of the 18th and 21st century

The Hamilton Mixtape has an all-star mashup of recording artists coming from all different genres, including Sia, Usher, Alicia Keys, K’NAAN, and Kelly Clarkson. There’s a healthy mix of keeping some of the songs close to the original Broadway recording and completely re-imagining them. Plus, there are demos of Valley Forge and Cabinet Battle No. 3 by Lin Manuel-Miranda included.

#3: Original work by Alexander Hamilton

Has your interest in American history been peaked? Take advantage and start with The Federalist Papers which was rapped about in “Non-Stop.”

“Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays defending the new United States Constitution, entitled The Federalist Papers. The plan was to write a total of twenty-five essays, the work divided evenly among the three men. In the end, they wrote eighty-five essays, in the span of six months. John Jay got sick after writing five. James Madison wrote twenty-nine. Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!”
“Non-Stop” by Lin Manuel-Miranda

#4: 7.5 hours of Lin Manuel-Miranda reading to you

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is story of two boys and how their friendship helps them to discover more about themselves and where they fit in the world. The combination of this award-winning story by Bejamin Alire Sâenz and Lin Manuel-Miranda’s voice is an incredible duet.

And last but definitely not least…

#5: The Original Broadway Cast Recording

For the person who still hasn’t gotten a copy of the cast album or listened to it entirely, we’re here for you. Hamilton: An American Musical is available 24/7 to download and listen to at you’re leisure!

For more suggestions to feed your Hamilton obsession no matter how big or small it is, email us at readers@mppl.org or stop by the Fiction/AV/Teen Services desk!